At least 22 women were murdered in cases where
the suspected, alleged, or convicted perpetrator was a current or former husband,
boyfriend, intimate partner or household/family member of the woman.

At least 17 children were murdered in cases where the suspected,
alleged, or convicted perpetrator was their mother's husband, boyfriend, or intimate
partner, or was the parent, foster parent, guardian, babysitter, or household/family
member of the child.

Tabitha, who was pregnant, her 1-year-old son, and a friend were taken
hostage and held at knifepoint by Tabitha's estranged husband, Robert
Juetten. During this standoff, Juetten stabbed his wife in the abdomen and
stabbed her friend in the leg, then repeatedly raped Tabitha before
releasing the friend and Tabitha's son. Robert Juetten then held her hostage
for several hours until officers forced their way in and arrested him.
Tabitha's unborn child died with her also. Robert Juetten has been charged
with two counts of second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder,
first-degree criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping, and first-degree assault.
First-degree murder charges will be considered by a grand jury.

9. Loretta Strand, 62

Ramsey

June 4, 1996

Loretta Strand was allegedly killed by her boyfriend, Dexter Perez Anderson.
Her body was discovered when her roommate returned home. A neighbor had seen
Anderson arrive and later leave in Strand's car. Anderson is being held
pending formal charges.

10. Barbara Korte, 39

Brooklyn Park

June 8, 1996

As Barbara Korte visited with a friend and his 11-year-old daughter in her
yard, Greg Korte, her estranged husband, drove up. He shot the friend,
Michael Pivec, as he sat at a picnic table, then chased his wife as she fled
across a road and shot her. He then killed himself. Pivec's daughter
witnessed the shootings from a nearby hammock and called 911. The Korte's 3
boys, ages 13, 10, and 8 were not present.

Murray Bunness made a phone call to his neighbor and friend, Kris
Elsenpeter, saying he had killed his wife Deborah and the 16-year-old girl
that stayed with them. Mr. and Mrs. Elsenpeter ran to the house hoping to be
of some help. When it was confirmed that the two were dead, Mrs. Elsenpeter
returned home but Kris stayed to calm Bunness. The two argued and Bunness
turned the gun on Elsenpeter. When law enforcement arrived they found
Bunness holding his gun and Elsenpeter wounded on the steps. Elsenpeter died
moments later. Officers then entered the house and found Deborah Martin,
Bunness' wife of 4 years, in the living room, dead of gunshot wounds.
Upstairs they found the body of 16-year-old Christina Ayers. She had been
living with Martin and Bunness while she attended school. Bunness has been
charged with three counts of first-degree murder.

12. Heidi Haines, 20

Minneapolis

June 28, 1996

Heidi tried to hide her bruises from her family and therefore, didn't often
come to family gatherings. On June 12th, when Heidi was five months
pregnant, she delivered a premature baby boy and named him Darius. He died
an hour and a half later. Family members noticed bruising on Heidi's back
and a fresh black eye, and suspected the premature delivery of Darius was
due to domestic abuse. On June 28th police received a call from witnesses
that a woman was being hit by a man in a car at 22nd and Washington Ave No.
As the witnesses drove back to the scene they saw the man, David Cross,
outside of the car on the passenger side, strangling the woman, Heidi
Haines. When police arrived, Heidi was lying outside of the car, face-down
on the ground. She was pronounced dead at 12:02 am of the 29th after police
made a prolonged attempt to resusitate her. The suspect, David Cross, was
arrested at the scene and later charged with manslaughter. He was sentenced
on December 11, 1996 to life in prison.

Patterson, the father of Ida Strouth's 3-month-old granddaughter, believed
that Ida was hiding her daughter's and his child from him. Ida Strouth's
daughter, Sarah, found the bodies of her mother, her brother, Jake, age 9,
and Jake's friend, 13-year-old Jeremiah Sponsel. They had all been stabbed
to death. Antonio Brayboy and Henry Patterson have been charged with
first-degree murder. Brayboy gave information to the police stating he had
stood by and watched as Patterson killed the woman and two boys. They await
trial the middle of February.

14. Jennifer Bradley, 30

Minneapolis

July 2, 1996

Jennifer was found partially clothed in the bathtub of her apartment. Her
boyfriend, James Gibson, told police that they had argued and he grabbed her
by the neck and pushed her into the bathroom where her body was found. James
Gibson has been charged with second-degree murder to which he pled guilty.
He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

15. Rita Walker, 59

St. Paul

July 5, 1996

The bodies of two women were found by an employee at the St Paul Radisson
Hotel after the women did not check out as expected. Rita Walker was
apparently shot by Evelyn Walker who then shot herself. Although not
related, police said the women considered themselves life parmers. Police
said there was some indication the two had been planning a murder-suicide
and suspect one of them had serious health problems.

16. Sherice Drain, 22

Minneapolis

July 12, 1996

Adrian Horan pled guilty to the shooting death of Sherice Drain. She and
Horan were in a car together at the time of the shooting. She was then
driven to Hennepin County Medical Center where she later died. Adrian Horan
was sentenced to 36 months in a state prison. He was given credit for
serving 122 days. He will also be required to make restitution for funeral
expenses.

17. Shauntai Johnson, 27

Wadena

July 20, 1996

Shauntai's body was found in the crawl space of her basement a day after her
children reported her missing. Jerry Johnson, 37, Shauntai's husband, was
charged with her murder. After three days of deliberation a jury found him
guilty of the strangulation death of his wife. He has been convicted of
second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter.

18. Colene Navratil Wenzel, 24

Osakis

July 23, 1996

Colene's husband, William Wenzel, told authorities he had been drinking and
was sitting on the couch with his wife. He said when he showed her what he
thought was a defective safety on his gun, it went off. Their three-year-old
son, Jonathan, said he heard his mother say, "Put the gun down" just before
the shot was heard. Colene was shot in the face. Jonathan remained in his
father's custody until William Wenzel was taken to jail on January 8th.
Jonathan currently lives with his father's brother and family. Colene hadn't
told her family of the history of her husband's abusive behavior toward her,
but had talked about it with friends and co-workers. When they offered this
information to the prosecutor and investigators they were told it was "not
pertinent to the case." William Wenzel was charged with second-degree
manslaughter, was offered a plea bargain and pled guilty. He was sentenced
to 2 years in St. Cloud and ordered to pay $8,200 restitution.

19. Carolyn Joy Seitz Voorhees

Duluth

August 6, 1996

Carolyn was shot 11 times when she stepped outside her home where she cared
for two people with mental disabilities. She had filed for divorce days
earlier. Her husband, Brad Voorhees, had purchased the .22 caliber rifle
that was used in the shooting earlier in the day. He was charged with
first-degree murder after confessing to authorities.

20. Esther Marie Stynski, 81

Ivanhoe

August 8, 1996

Esther died after being struck on the head with a blunt object, possibly a
cane or a 1-inch-square yardstick. Her husband, John Harry Stynski, said he
poked his wife to get her into a chair and later admitted to striking her
with the stick but denied hitting her in the face. John Stynski has been
charged with first-degree manslaughter.

21. Yvonne Thompson, 41

St. Paul

August 25, 1996

Yvonne was shot to death by her boyfriend, Freddie Bowen. A dispute between
Thompson and Bowen began in the back of her apartment building during which
neighbors and witnesses reported hearing Thompson yelling "Don't shoot
me! Don't shoot me!" The dispute continued through the building toward the
front door where there was more screaming, then shots and silence. Bowen
then ran out of the building, down the street and laid down on the boulevard
still holding the gun. Police had by this time taken up positions around
Bowen and attempted to negotiate with him. About six hours later, after all
attempts to resolve the situation had failed, police began to approach Bowen
who then got up with his gun pointed and police shot Bowen, who was dead on
arrival at the hospital. Yvonne Thompson had been trying to break off her
relationship with Bowen.

22. Julie Ann Carroll, 43

Faribault

September 12, 1996

Julie Ann Carroll's 10-year-old daughter Meghan ran to her neighbor's house
saying she and her mother had both been shot. Police were summoned and found
Julie's body. Three-year-old Keely Carroll was unharmed but badly
frightened. Meghan was airlifted to a Twin Cities hospital and underwent
surgery for her wounds. Meghan reported that "Mommy and Jim were arguing."
About an hour and a half after the shootings, Erroll James Grosman
surrendered to police and was taken to the Rice County jail and held on $1
million bail. Later Erroll Grosman was released when bail was lowered to
$500,000. He committed suicide in the middle of December.

Depressed about her family's finances, Janet Olson told her husband, David,
he would be better off without her and their two young daughters. A few days
later David Olson came home from work and found the two girls dead and his
wife with cuts to her wrists and chest in an apparent suicide attempt. Janet
Olson told authorities she had the children in the bathtub. When one slipped
under the water, she took the child out and brought her to the bedroom. The
other child had also slipped under the water and she took that daughter to
the bedroom. At that point she placed pillows over their faces. Janet Olson
has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder.

Christina was living with a couple who had taken her in. The husband, Murray
Bunness, came home and shot his wife, Deborah Martin, first. He then went
upstairs and shot Christina. Police found her with the phone still in her
hand. Evidently she had tried to call for help. Murray Bunness then went
downstairs and while standing over his wife's body a neighbor tried to talk
to him. He turned the gun on his friend, Kris Elsenpeter, and shot him. Kris
died a short time later. Bunness has been charged with three counts of
first-degree murder.

Henry Laverne Patterson murdered his ex-girlfriend's mother, Ida Strouth,
her brother, Jake Strouth, and her brother's friend, Jeremiah Sponsel. He
slashed their throats with a steak knife while a friend, Antonio William
Brayboy, blocked the door to the basement. Patterson believed that Ida was
hiding his and her daughter Sarah's three-month-old baby from him. After
filing a domestic assault report against Patterson earlier, Sarah Strouth
moved to a location unknown to Paterson. Having previously lived at the
Strouth residence for two years, Patterson used the house key he'd kept to
let himself in. Henry Patterson, 22, and Antonio Brayboy, 20, have both been
charged with three counts of first-degree murder.

12. Alex Frank, 513. Brandon Frank, 4

Cold Spring

July 3, 1996

Alex and Brandon's parents had recently separated and the boys went to live
with their mother. They were visiting their father, but when he did not
return them at the agreed-upon time, law enforcement was called to check on
them. When police arrived they found the two boys dead of knife wounds and
their father unconscious from his own self-inflicted knife wounds. Kurt
Frank has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the death
of his two boys.

14. Newborn Baby Girl

Minneapolis

July 18, 1996

Police were called to Kathleen Wiernasz's home by relatives because she had
just given birth and needed medical care. She was taken to Hennepin County
Medical Center, where the infant was pronounced dead. She first claimed the
baby was stillborn. Later she admitted giving birth while sitting on the
toilet and let the baby fall into the water. She saw the baby move and knew
she couldn't breathe but decided to let her drown. Kathleen was charged with
second-degree murder.

15. Shaunessy Walker, 15 mos.

St. Paul

August 14, 1996

Shaunessy's mother, Shayla Walker, told police that Robert Powell, her
live-in boyfriend, was playing kickball with Shaunessy. Shayla left the room
for a few minutes, heard a "thud" and walked back into a hall, where she saw
her daughter on the floor. Her head was against the wall and she was crying.
Later that afternoon, paramedics were called to Walker's apartment on a
report that the girl had stopped breathing. She was taken to St. Paul-Ramsey
Medical Center where she was pronounced dead. An autopsy found that she had
suffered multiple injuries including large lacerations of the liver, a
spleen laceration, and hemorrhages of the pancreas and pelvis. Powell has
been charged with unintentional second-degree murder.

16. Anthony M. Johnson, 6 mos.

St. Paul

October 24, 1996

Anthony's father, Richard Steven Johnson, was caring for his son while the
baby's mother was working. Paramedics were called in response to a 911.
Homicide investigators noticed bruises on the child's abdomen, chin, cheek,
and forehead. There also was a bruise and a bite mark on the baby's left
leg, which Johnson said he placed there after finding the baby cold and not
breathing. Johnson was charged with second-degree murder after the medical
examiner determined the baby died of brain injuries suffered when he was
shaken. The child's death came about a month after Johnson allegedly struck
the baby's mother during a domestic dispute. Although police responded to a
call at that time, they were unable to apprehend him and the couple
reconciled and investigators closed the case.

17. Brandon McArthur, 14 mos.

Cloquet

December 7, 1996

A teenage boy, a friend of Brandon's mother, was baby-sitting with Brandon.
When his mother returned home and found him unconscious and having trouble
breathing, she took him to the hospital. He had suffered severe head trauma
and other injuries and two days later was declared brain dead and life
support was disconnected. The teenager has been charged with second-degree
murder. The county attorney wants to try the teen as an adult.

Kris Elsenpeter's friend and neighbor, Murray Bunness, called Kris to come
over. When Elsenpeter arrived, he saw his alcoholic friend, gun in hand,
standing over the body of his wife Deborah. On the way to the Bunness home
Kris had told another neighbor to call 911. When police arrived they were
confronted with an enraged man with a gun and an injured man, Elsenpeter,
lying on the steps. After a standoff of several minutes, Bunness put down
the gun, but Elsenpeter died moments later. In addition to finding the body
of Bunness' wife, they also found the body of Christina Ayers, 16, who lived
with the family. Bunness was taken into custody and has been charged with
three counts of first-degree murder.

"1996 FEMICIDE REPORT - Women and Children Murdered"
- is compiled from news accounts and information provided by law enforcement agencies,
county attorneys, court administrators, battered women's programs, and family members and
friends of murder victims. Please contact us if you have updated or more complete information on any homicide.

Rights Reserved. We ask that any use of this information be identified as collected by the battered
women's movement in Minnesota through the: